E-Cigarettes May Be a Gateway to Marlboros

While some fret about the growing scourge of people using e-cigarettes to smoke weed, vaping has gotten plenty of positive press lately. A study out this year from Public Health England found they are far healthier than traditional cigarettes, cigars, and pipes as a method of consuming nicotine, and some in the medical community have begun to embrace them as a means of weaning traditional smokers off cigarettes.

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But of course all vices have their downsides, and e-cigs are no exception. In addition to being pretty damn lame, vaping might also lead people who previously stayed away from cigarettes to start smoking them. Researchers at Dartmouth University and the University of Pittsburgh studied 694 people between the ages of 16 and 26 who were never traditional cigarette smokers previously. Additionally, all participants—54 percent of whom were female, and 76 percent of whom were white—were determined to be "attitudinally nonsusceptible" to smoking because they responded "definitely no" when asked if they would try a cigarette offered by a friend or if they would smoke within the next year.

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The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, found that 37.5 percent of the e-cigarette users in the study had begun smoking traditional cigarettes regularly when asked a year later, compared to just 9.3 percent of those who did not use e-cigarettes.

Crucially, the sample size of the study was small: Of the fewer than 700 participants, just 16 were e-cig users. It remains to be seen if the pattern would be replicated in a larger group, but it does make logical sense that vaping, which mimics the action and sensation of true cigarette smoking, could serve as a gateway to the real deal.

If there is a larger link, it's a problem for regulators. "E-cigarettes are not subject to many laws that regulate traditional cigarettes, such as age limits on sales, taxation, and labeling requirements," says the study's lead author, Dr. Brian A. Primack. "They also come in youth-oriented flavorings that laws have limited in traditional cigarettes, such as apple bubble gum and chocolate candy cane."

Another author, Dr. James Sargent, added that "electronic cigarettes are marketed on television. This represents the first time in more than 40 years that a smoking-related device has been advertised on this medium, which has tremendous reach and could drive appeal of these products among youth."

If e-cigarettes lead to Camels and Marlboros, the argument goes, they need to be sold and advertised as such—that is, not to kids. The better news is that if you're already smoking cigarettes, even with new regulations, vaporizing may still be a good tool to help you break your habit.